Objective: To study the effect of interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene transfer on the immunity of ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3.
Methods: The expression of main histologic complex (MHC) molecular HLA-ABC, HLA-DR and HLA-DQ of SKOV3, SKOV3/Neo and SKOV3/IL-2 cells were detected by flow cytometry. The 51Cr-4 hr releasing test was employed to detect the killing effects of natural killer (NK) and lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. Meanwhile, the tumor cell and lymphocyte co-culture was performed.
Results: The expression of HLA-ABC, HLA-DR and HLA-DQ molecular of hIL-2 gene modified cells was upregulated markedly. The 51Cr-4 hr releasing test showed that the parental and gene modified cells were markedly resistant to NK cells, but the IL-2 gene modified cells was more sensitive to LAK cells. There were significant differences between them (P < 0.01). The "cross-talk" of tumor cell with lymphocyte was observed when the hIL-2 gene modified SKOV3 cells were cocultured with lymphocyte.
Conclusion: IL-2 gene transfer can enhance the immunity of ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3.